Dr. Kenneth P. Morse
Managing director
MIT Entrepreneurship Center

Ken Morse leads the MIT effort to train leaders to bring innovative concepts and technologies to market and build successful high tech startup businesses. Based at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the MIT Entrepreneurship Center has the mandate to teach High Tech Entrepreneurship and to foster research and collaboration, Institute-wide. The student-run $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, as well as enrollment in New Enterprises and the Entrepreneurship Laboratory Courses, are open to students from Engineering, Science, and Management, encouraging multidisciplinary teamwork. Selected members of the MIT Entrepreneurship faculty and staff have been actively engaged with MIT alumni and friends in the Middle East for many years. Ken has been a speaker at all four annual conferences of the MIT Arab Alumni Association (MIT AAA) in Cairo, Amman, Beirut, and Dubai. Morse joined MIT in 1996 after 25 years as a serial entrepreneur helping launch six high-tech ventures. His batting average is 83%: of these six companies, 5 did well, while one was a total disaster.

As a member of AspenTech’s Board of Directors from 1986 until 1995, he focused on AspenTech’s entry into new global markets, including high value applications of their enterprise software. From 1992 to 1996, he was AspenTech’s Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He built AspenTech’s business throughout the Gulf region, with strong customer relationships in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates. He also increased AspenTech’s EMEA business by ten fold, and opened and managed new offices in France, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Switzerland and South Africa, as well as integrating the various European businesses acquired by AspenTech.

After a highly successful initial public offering (IPO) in October 1994, AspenTech quickly grew to 1600+ employees worldwide, with revenues exceeding $150 million. Ken then moved to MIT to "give back" to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Ken’s interest in international high tech ventures began at MIT, where he graduated with a BS in Political Science in 1968. Following graduation, as President of AIESEC-US and an International Advisory Committee Officer for this global business student exchange program, he traveled widely on behalf of AIESEC before entering Harvard Business School. Morse received his MBA with honors in 1972 and joined Schroders, the UK-based merchant bank, where he worked directly for Jim Wolfensohn, now President of the World Bank.

In 1975 Morse formed a trading advisory company under the aegis of Chase Manhattan Bank to assist U.S. technology-based companies to enter emerging Asian markets. He lived in Beijing for five years during the latter half of the Cultural Revolution. As President of Chase Pacific Trade Advisors, he assisted IBM, General Motors, Hughes Aircraft, Measurex, Mine Safety Appliances, and Waters Associates to enter China and other developing markets.

In 1980, Morse relocated to Silicon Valley as a founding member of 3Com Corporation, where he was employee #8. As the first head of sales, marketing, and planning, he helped 3Com raise its initial venture \\funding and launch its first three products. After a successful launch he returned to the Boston area where he was a co-founder of several other MIT-related startup ventures.

Ken is a member of the Board of Associates of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Cercle Royal Gaulois Artistique & Literaire (Brussels), and the Quissett Yacht Club. Prior to moving to Brussels, Ken was a member of the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge®; he currently serves on the Board of its parent, the MIT Enterprise Forum. Ken is a member of the Board of Advisors of four early stage Venture Capital Firms: Capricorn Venture Partners (Belgium), Darby Technology Ventures Group LLC, Polytechnos Venture-Partners (Munich), and Orchid Partners (Boston).

In the academic year 2001-2002, he served as the Émile Bernheim Visiting Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) (Brussels, Belgium). He is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster (Belfast).

Mass High Tech named Ken "High Tech All-Star" for his contribution to entrepreneurship education.

When time permits, Ken and his family enjoy tennis and sailing their wooden boat.

Raj Rajaratnam
Founder and Managing General Partner
The Galleon Group

Raj Rajaratnam is the Founder and Managing General Partner of The Galleon Group. The Galleon Group manages over $5 billion, making it one of the largest hedge funds in the world.

Prior to founding Galleon, Mr. Rajaratnam was President and Chief Operating Officer of Needham & Company, an investment bank focused on the technology and healthcare industries. He joined Needham in 1985 as an analyst in the electronics sector and became Managing Director of Investment Research in 1987. In 1989 he became Chief Operating Officer, and in 1991 was appointed President.

Prior to joining the Needham & Company, Mr. Rajaratnam was a lending officer in the High Technology Group at Chase Manhattan Bank. He holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Ahmad Bahaei
CTO & Fellow
National Semiconductor

Dr. Ahmad Bahai is a Fellow and the CTO of National Semiconductor's wireless and Information Appliance group. Prior to joining National, he was CTO of Algorex, technical manager at AT&T Bell Laboratories Advanced Wireless Communications Labs, and senior scientist at TCSI. He has served on the advisory board of Sirius Sattelite Radio, GCT, and ZCOM. Dr. Bahai is an adjunct/consulting professor at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley. His research interest includes adaptive signal processing and communication theory. He is the author of more than 50 papers and reports and his book on "Multi-carrier Digital Communications" is published by Kluwer/Plenum. He also serves as an associate editor of IEEE Communication Letters. Dr. Bahai holds a MSEE from Imperial College, University of London, and a Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley.

Rouzbeh Yassini
Founder and CEO
YAS Broadband Ventures LLC

Dr. Rouzbeh Yassini is Founder & CEO of YAS Broadband Ventures LLC. He has gained international reputation as a broadband visionary for inventing the cable modem while founder, chairman, CEO and president of LANcity, and for establishing the cable modem industry standards (DOCSIS) through Cable Television Laboratories.

Dr. Yassini is well known in the industry circles as the "father of the cable modem" for inventing this technology, and has been a two-time CED Broadband 50 designate. CED Magazine named him "1998 Man of the Year" for creating and fostering the multibillion-dollar cable modem "Broadband" industry. He is a worldwide speaker and author on topics of digital services (voice, data, video) using the broadband infrastructure.

As founder of YAS Broadband Ventures, he serves as a board member on a number of privately held companies. Dr. Yassini is a member of the UPC Technical Advisory Committee, and a senior executive consultant with CableLabs in charge of the DOCSIS and CableHome projects. He serves as the cable industry's point man on standardizing the cable modem footprint globally. He has also served on the board of LANcity (acquired by BayNetworks in 1996), BAS (acquired by ADC in 2000), TrueChat (acquired by Terayon in 2001). Dr. Yassini has been involved in managing and advising companies ranging from 100 million to 50 billion dollars.

Dr. Yassini holds an Honorary Ph.D. in Science, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University, as well as an equivalent MBA from General Electric's Financial Management Program.

Ron Yara
General partner of
Tallwood Venture Capital

Ron Yara is a general partner of Tallwood Venture Capital. With his first hand knowledge of being a successful entrepreneur, Ron has a strong sense of what it takes to build a successful company. This experience allows Ron to ensure that Tallwood makes value added contributions to its portfolio companies.

Ron co-founded two technology startups, S3 (SBLU) and Chips & Technologies (INTC). He has also held positions at Intel Corporation, Raytheon Semiconductor, Scientific Microsystems and Data Pathing.

Ron holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an M.S.E.E. from Santa Clara.

Arman Pahlavan
Partner, Venture Capital & Technology Group
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Arman Pahlavan advises emerging growth companies, both public and private, and venture funds in various aspects of their business transactions. His areas of specialty include corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property transactions in various industry sectors including telecommunications, Internet and life sciences. Since 2000, he has represented companies and venture funds in transactions valued at approximately $600 million. These venture funds have included New Enterprise Associates, Draper Associates, Versant Ventures, ABS Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and others.
Mr. Pahlavan is the co-chairman of Manatt's Venture Capital and Emerging Companies Practice Group.

Behrooz Abdi
VP & GM - Radio Products Division
Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector

"Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Behrooz Abdi migrated to the US in 1978. He received his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Montana State University in 1984 and his MSEE with honors from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1985. He started his career at Motorola as a design engineer working on high frequency mixed signal chips for video and disk drive applications. During his tenure in design and technical management Behrooz earned 14 patents, several
publications and the 1993 Motorola Distinguished Innovator Award.

In 1995 Behrooz became an operations manager responsible for the Radio Frequency (RF) integrated circuits business, serving the wireless and mobile market with Motorola's Semiconductor Products. In 1996 he received the Georgia Tech Outstanding Young Alumni Award. In 1997 he was promoted to general manager for the radio products division and in 1999 to his current position of vice president where he has led
Motorola to the #1 market position in RF integrated circuits within the wireless mobile market. In this role he leads a global business with well over $600M in revenue and operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.Behrooz has lectured internationally in the area of communication systems and ICs, and has been the keynote speaker at several conferences addressing the future of Mobile market and technology. In addition to his role within Motorola he is also a member
of the Arizona State University Dean Advisory Council where he and his colleagues advise the dean of engineering on a variety of issues ranging from department curriculum to state education policy, school competitiveness and industry relations.
Behrooz makes his home in Phoenix, Arizona, with his wife Sharon and their three Daughters Shirin, Mandy, and Tara."

Afsaneh Naimollah
Chela Technology Partners, LLC.
Partner

Prior to founding Chela Technology Partners in September 1999, Afsaneh Naimollah was the Managing Director/Global Sector Head of the Technologies Group in the Corporate Finance Department of BZW/Barclays Capital for ten years. Under her leadership the Group was represented in a number of major centers including, New York, San Francisco, London, Paris and Hong Kong. The Group was involved in M&A advice, capital raising, risk management and derivatives products. Her Group covered 100 companies involved in all sectors of the technology industry.

Ms. Naimollah's advisory experience covers a variety of industries including Internet services, enterprise software, IT services, telecom equipment, educational software & services, medical instrumentation and satellites. For the past several years Ms. Naimollah has primarily focused on the Internet software and services, Infrastructure software and healthcare technologies. Over the past ten years, Ms. Naimollah has been involved with over 100 transactions in the tech industry many of which have been cross border deals and a number have been viewed as transformational.

Ms. Naimollah has been one of the early and active proponents of the Internet applications across industries. She is a frequent speaker in many of the industry circles including Milken Institute's Global Conference, Gartner symposiums and many universities.

Prior to heading the Technologies Group, Ms. Naimollah spent nine years covering the energy industry dealing with multinational companies such as Mobil, Exxon and Amoco. Ms. Naimollah's transaction experience covered 25 countries.

Ms. Naimollah holds a B.A. in Economics (with a minor in Philosophy) from New York University and an MBA in International Finance from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at Northwestern University. Ms. Naimollah currently resides in Manhattan.

Ali Sajassi
Chief architect of Cisco

Ali Sajassi is a senior system/solution architect at Cisco Systems where he has been working on end-to-end solutions in the areas of Voice over IP (VoIP), Layer-2 Virtual Private Networks (L2VPN), and Metro Ethernet Networks. He is an active participant of IETF, IEEE, and ITU standards groups and he has made numerous contributions to these groups in the area of Layer-2 VPN.

Prior to joining Cisco Systems, Ali worked in several startup companies in both data and tele-communications areas. He was the director of system engineering at AvalCom where he was responsible for design & development of W-CDMA and IS136 Base Stations Systems. He was the principle architect at Sentient Networks where he designed the next generation Multi-Service Access Switches capable of supporting any protocols (e.g., ATM, FR, PPP, IP, etc) at any of its high-speed interfaces at any time (ASAP). Prior to Sentient, Ali worked at Hughes Network Systems where as the principle engineer he was responsible for design and development of Base Station Systems for Mobile Satellite systems and IS-136 and E-TDMA Cellular Systems.

Ali received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Computer Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and he completed his Ph.D. studies at George Washington University in the area of networking and communications.

Faraj Aalaei
CEO & Co-Founder
Centillium communications

Faraj Aalaei is Chief Executive Officer and one of co-founders of Centillium communications. Aalaei has more than 19 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. Prior to co-founding Centillium, Mr. Aalaei was the Director of Access Products at Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of fiber-optic transmission and broadband switching platforms, from October 1993 to March 1997. Mr. Aalaei also designed advanced telecommunications products at AT&T Bell Laboratories, a telecommunications company, from May 1985 to October 1993. Mr. Aalaei received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.

Nariman Farvardin
Dean of "A. James Clark School of Engineering
University of Maryland

Nariman Farvardin became dean of the A. James Clark University in 2001, after serving five years as chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering. He joined the university in January 1984, as a professor of electrical and computer engineering with a joint appointment with the Institute of System Research. Dean Farvardin was also a visiting professor at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications, Paris, France, during 1990-91.
Dean Farvardin's research interests include information theory and coding, signal compression with applications to speech, image and video coding and transmission, high-speed communication networks, wireless systems and networks, and speech and speaker recognition.

In 1987, he received the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation. In 1992, Dr Farvardin received the Maryland Industrial Partnerships Award of Excellence and in 1993, he received the Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award from the Institute for System Research, University of Maryland. He served as the faculty advisor of a team of students from the University of Maryland that received the American Division Award of the 1995 Texas Instruments DSP Solutions Challenge, and in 1999, he received the Invention of the Year Award from the University of Maryland.
Dr. Farvardin is a Fellow of the IEEE, and was the Associate Editor for Quantization, Speech/Image Coding of the IEEE Transactions on Communications during 1986-90 and the Associate Editor for Source Coding of the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory during 1992-95. He chaired the technical program committee of the IEEE Speech Coding Workshop, Annapolis, Maryland, 1995.
Nariman Farvardin received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, in 1979, 1980, and 1983, respectively.

Parviz Famouri

PARVIZ FAMOURI (M'90-SM'98) (Nominated by Region 2), Director, Electromechanical Systems Laboratory, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
Parviz Famouri received the B.S. degree, Applied Mathematics, Kentucky State University, 1981, and the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., all in Electrical Engineering in 1982, 1986, and 1990, respectively. He joined West Virginia University, 1990, and is Full Professor. Famouri's primary research and teaching interests include design, analysis, modeling, and control of electromechanical systems including Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems. He founded and serves as director of the Electro-Mechanical Systems Laboratory, where undergraduate and graduate students study and conduct research in the area of electromechanics at micro and macro levels. The lab's main ongoing research projects are incipient fault detection of MEMS devices and linear alternator/engine combination for auxiliary power unit applications. He and his students have authored 60+ papers/presentations. He has served as Principal Investigator on projects over $4,000,000 for NSF, DoD, DoE, and NASA. Famouri was elected to the WVU Faculty Senate, 1997, and Faculty Senate Executive Committee 2001-02 and 2002-03.

Statement -- It is a distinct honor and privilege to be nominated as a candidate for Region 2 Delegate-Elect/Director-Elect, 2003-2004, by the Nominations and Appointments Committee. With this honor comes a responsibility to serve you well, which I will try my best to do.
As Director, I look forward with great pleasure to working with the many engineers and volunteers in the Region. I want to thank all of our volunteers who give their invaluable time to serve the membership by bringing and organizing new professional, technical, and social activities to the Region. As Director, I will raise the visibility of these efforts, and I will assist them in every way I can to continue to serve the members.
As Director, I will work with the industrial employers to be flexible so our members and volunteers can be involved with the Sections' and the Region's activities. By having an active Region, the employers, engineering employees, consultants, and students will all benefit.
Rebuttal - IEEE is in turbulent times financially and cannot afford new programs at this time. The Regions have been asked to cut back financially, and as Director, I will do my utmost to reduce the effect of any cut to the Region. Drawing on my project management experience, I will manage the Region's budget in a fiscally responsible manner.
If elected, I will be a grass roots voice for members, sections and chapters on IEEE Boards.
http://ems.wvu.edu/famouri/statement.htm

Ross Haghighat
Founder, Chairman and CEO
Triton Systems

Mr. Haghighat is founder and Chairman of the Board of Triton Systems, Inc., a leading edge nanotechnology portfolio company in Boston, Massachusetts. Triton Systems incubates disruptive product solutions in the fields of life science and engineering, nanoelectronics and advanced composite technologies. Triton boasts a number of breakthrough products which include high barrier nanocomposites for consumer applications, protective coatings for plastic substrates, flexible electronics, and advanced aerospace composite structures.
Mr. Haghighat also serves as the CEO and Chairman of Elecon, Inc., a leading producer of organic semiconductors. He is responsible for setting the strategic and tactical directions of the firm. Mr. Haghighat also co-founder, and served on the Board of Directors of a photonic-based firm that was acquired by a Fortune 500 company in 1999. Earlier in his career, he managed a high technology group at a consulting firm for 7 years. Mr. Haghighat holds graduate degrees in materials science, organometallic chemistry, and in business administration.

Dr. Massoud Khatami

Born in Mashad in 1936, Graduate of Shiraz University School of Medicine 1961, since then Dr. Massoud Khatamee has received seven fellowships including one by WHO in Oxford University in England. He has held more than thirty teaching assignments and appointments, more than forty presentations in the United States, France, Germany, Egypt, Russia, Columbia and Iran. He has also published more than thirty academic papers and thirty four articles in American and Iranian press. He has written one book in Iran and has forwarded an Infertility book in the United States. He also been on editorial board of four academic publications in the United States and has given more than twenty five television interviews. Massoud has been featured by ABC, CBS, BBC, CNN, German Television, Infertility Journal, Voice of America, Canadian Broadcasting TV and interviewed by Barbara Walters and Larry King for his infertility researches.

• Clinical Professor, Department of Ob/Gyn, New York University School of Medicine, New York City
• Executive Director, Fertility Research Foundation
• Founder and Director Society for the Prevention of Human Infertility (SPHI)
• Founder, Shiraz University Alumni, USA Inc.
• Past President and Member of Board of Directors, Shiraz University School of Medical Alumni Association (SUSMA)
• Member: Physicians Advisory Board, National Republican Committee
• 2001 Wall Street Businessman of the Year
• Team Leader, Committee adopted by President Bush
• Nominee For President Elect of The American College of Obstetricians And Gynecologist -2003-2004.
• Winner of the Gold medal as an elite member of the GOP by President and Mrs. Bush on August 1, 2003
• Physician of the Year award 2003
• 2003 Republican Chairman's Honor Roll
• Lecturer: Columbia University in Bio Ethics of Advanced Reproductive Technology.
• President of Iranian American Medical Association - 1999-2000
• President, Iranian American Republican Council, New York Chapter
  

Siamak Farah
Director & CEO
InfoStreet, Inc.

Siamak Farah is the founder and CEO of InfoStreet. Active in its day-to-day management, Siamak has assembled and leads a seasoned team of industry professionals. By employing a business philosophy that focuses first on solving business problems and second on applying appropriate technologies to those solutions, he has enabled flourishing businesses for both InfoStreet and its clients.

As president of a small publicly listed software development firm and the chief operating officer of another, Siamak has extensive small business management knowledge. This, combined with years of experience as a software developer, places him in the unique position of having hands-on knowledge of technical, marketing and management issues; the very combination required for the creation of successful Internet presence.

Prior to 1994, Siamak worked at NeXT Computer side-by-side industry visionaries the likes of Steve Jobs. During his six years at NeXT, his responsibilities grew from technical sales and marketing to district sales management. Before joining NeXT, Siamak was the Chief Operating Officer of Microstat Development Corporation. During his two years at Microstat, he was responsible for the day-to-day operation of this publicly listed R&D firm. He initiated his tenure at Microstat as Systems Coordinator, managing the development of stock quotation software. Siamak began his career at Vertigo Systems International. Initially hired as a systems administrator, he soon rose to be team leader for the development of a 3D-animation software package. Ultimately, he became Product Integration Manager and Customer Support Coordinator. During his time at Vertigo, he was instrumental in its growth from a startup with just six people to a full-fledged business employing over 70 individuals.

The positions held by Siamak span the gamut of those required in the operation and management of a software development company. Siamak set out to experience these roles by deliberate design. At the age of 22, Siamak already had a vision to create a software development firm. Leaving nothing to chance, he systematically chose positions that would provided him with experience in all facets of a software business: software development, customer service and training, executive management and finance, and sales and marketing. With this operational perspective, Siamak has striven to include a cutting edge technological vision in his work. As evidence, Siamak has been and continues to be active in the envisioning and creation of forefront technology. 3D-animation, Internet technology, and object-oriented programming are just a few leading edge technologies to which Siamak has actively contributed.

Dr. M. A. Ketabchi
Founder Chairman and CTO
Savvion, Inc.

Savvion was founded in 1994 by Dr. M.A. Ketabchi who put together a seasoned technology and management team to build the business, develop the leading Business Process Management technology and grow a large and respected base of customers consisting of Fortune 1000 companies mostly. Fostering an environment with a balance of academic strengths, technology leadership and business acumen the Savvion management team continues to propel Savvion into a new area of business software solutions empowered by Business Process Management technology.

Dr. Ketabchi was a Full Professor